The 2012 presidential and congressional elections will be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. The Electoral College will convene on December 17, 2012 during which time electors representing each state will formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. The November election will also include 33 races in the United States Senate and races to determine the members of the House of Representatives, with both serving as the 113th Congress beginning in January 2013.

The Republican National Convention will convene August 27-30 in Tampa Florida and the Democratic National Convention will be held September 3-6 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Several individuals have formally entered the race for the Republican nomination and President Barack Obama will be the Democratic nominee as he seeks a second term. There will be other candidates representing independent parties that will seek to have their names on the November ballot. These parties include the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Socialist Party USA, and Independent Party.

The Commission on Presidential Debates has set three debates for the general election campaign. The first will be held on October 3 at the University of Denver. The second in the series will be a town hall meeting scheduled for October 16 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York and a final debate at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida on October 22. The vice presidential nominees will have one debate on October 11 at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.